Vikings Training Camp Diary: August 6-7

The Minnesota Vikings offensive line is in shambles (again) and more important notes from training camp.

Welcome to the Minnesota Vikings Training Camp Diary! Here, you’ll find everything you need to know about the Vikings’ training camp practices on August 6-7 in an easy-to-read bullet form.

The lead story for the latest version of the training camp diary is Nick Easton’s injury status. I noted in Saturday’s training camp diary that Easton did not participate but the reason why was unclear. The most likely theory was that the Vikings were taking precaution for a minor injury. Unfortunately, it’s a lot more than that. Neck and back injuries are no joke — just ask John Sullivan. It’s quite possible this turns into a season-ending ailment.

Vikings left guard Nick Easton will seek a second opinion this week for neck and back injuries, a source tells ESPN. Easton missed Saturday's practice and is being held out today along with starters Pat Elflein and Mike Remmers. Third-string center Cornelius Edison is working…

Source said #Vikings lineman Nick Easton began to feel discomfort in upper area around neck after Friday practice. MRIs taken & are being looked at by Dr Jack Kelly in New Haven, Conn #Vikings expected to know around Thursday how serious the injury is Easton is still in Minnesota

Easton joins starting linemen Pat Elflein and Mike Remmers on the sidelines while quarterback Kirk Cousins tries to build continuity with his offense. Former Cousins teammate Tom Compton is filling in at left guard while Cornelius Edison is serving as the first-team center. Danny Isidora has filled in for Remmers at right guard. Thankfully, Riley Reiff and Rashod Hill are still healthy at left and right tackle (that sound you hear, by the way, is me knocking on wood until my knuckles bleed).

Would you look at that — we made it halfway through training camp before this year’s version of the catastrophic injury bug hit the Vikings. At least in 2016 it didn’t hit until the regular season started.

The Easton injury news ignited rumors suggesting the Vikings were interested in acquiring former Pro Bowl guard Richie Incognito. Though it appears those rumors were just that — rumors. Incognito supposedly told TMZ a week ago that Minnesota and Seattle were interested in his services.

Head coach Mike Zimmer was asked about the Incognito rumors, to which he replied, “false” and told the media to tweet that he said it was false. A pretty clear statement that Minnesota is not interested.

Incognito responded, as one normally does, by using profane language and calling Zimmer a liar in a tweet. Incognito also tweeted several screenshots of text conversations he had with the late coach Tony Sparano, which Incognito interpreted interest from the organization from. You can decide for yourself if those text conversations suggested the Vikings were interested in adding Incognito. I, for one, don’t think an offensive line coach having a casual text conversation with you does not mean the organization he works for is interested in signing you (NSFW).

Quick note: At least we know Incognito is in football shape, because it takes a strict workout regimen to have the athleticism to be able to jump to conclusions the way Incognito did here.

The secondary had a splashy practice on Tuesday, at least according to Arif Hasan of Zone Coverage. Xavier Rhodes recorded two interceptions (both thrown by Cousins) and Mackensie Alexander added one. Meanwhile, Mike Hughes continued his fantastic training camp.

Linval Joseph was not in pads for Tuesday’s practice. My gut feeling tells me it was a veteran’s day off because no type of injury has been noted. Hopefully that is the case.

Outside of Brandon Zylstra, few of the Vikings’ rookie and undrafted free agent receivers have made a notable impression. South Dakota State alum and Maple Grove, Minn. native Jake Wieneke did raise some eyebrows on Monday with this impressive toe-tapping grab over Jack Tocho in the back of the end zone.

Tuesday’s practice got chippy. Rhodes performed quite well early in practice, tallying the aforementioned two interceptions and letting the offense know about it. Just a few minutes later, Stefon Diggs burned Rhodes on a deep post route for a would-be touchdown and chucked the ball into the stands. Rhodes did not take kindly to that, refusing to come off the field and taking reps with the second and third team defense all while calling out Diggs from the field. Eventually, both Kyle Rudolph and Zimmer had to talk Rhodes down.

The Vikings released their first unofficial depth chart of 2018 during Tuesday’s practice. The most notable eyebrow raiser is Stacy Coley ahead of Tavarres King at wide receiver. King has spent most of his time with the second team while Coley spent the first week on the sidelines with a groin issue.

2 Comments

I just wanted to know why Linval Joseph was out? As for the offensive line concerns, well, I’m concerned, but I have faith some of these guys will return from injury, and other depth guys will step up. We could also sign Zane Beadles or whatever. SKOL